“Emmett told Peter a strange story about the people he supposedly belongs to, but I only have a few details of it. One of them was that their females have fangs.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that before? That’s huge.”
“The leading theory is that Emmett is an immortal like us, and that he made the whole thing up to explain his bloodsucking fetish.”
“What else did he tell Peter about the females with fangs? Do they have venom too?”
“I don’t know. I should call Peter.”
Jin waved a hand. “Then what are you waiting for?”
12
Bowen
It was odd how attached Bowen had become to his fragile charge and how fast it had happened. After rushing through the car return process, he’d practically run all the way to the jet, ignoring the startled looks from passersby. Shrouding himself to look like airport security and hiding the bunch of shopping bags he had in each hand, Bowen ensured that no one stopped him on the way.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Charlie. The guy was perfectly capable of safeguarding her until his return, but he couldn’t help the uneasy feeling churning in his stomach when he was away from her.
Taking the steps two at a time, he turned sideways to fit the bags through the narrow opening and then dropped them on the floor.
For some reason, Margaret was still seated in the wheelchair, and he could immediately tell that something was off about her.
“Are you in pain?” He walked up to her and crouched in front of the chair.
“It’s manageable.”
“Are you sure? You can take one of the codeine pills.”
“Not yet. If it gets worse, I will.”
“Why are you still in the wheelchair?”
She arched a brow. “Charlie seemed to be afraid to touch me. He carried me up here inside the chair and then just left me sitting in it. He said you would help me when you got here.”
“He must have been afraid to move your leg.” Bowen wrapped his arms around her waist. “On the count of three.”
She pushed up and, bracing her weight on her good leg, slid into the aisle seat. “I could have done it myself. I don’t know why I waited for you.”
“I’m glad that you did. You could have hurt yourself.” He put a hand under her cast, activated the reclining mechanism, and then very gently lowered it on the extended footrest. “Better?”
“Much. Thank you.” She leaned back and closed her eyes.
Perhaps she was tired. It had been a long day, and sitting in the car while he’d shopped for her must have been uncomfortable. He’d done it in under half an hour, but still.
When he was done stowing away the shopping bags, he joined Margaret, glad that they weren’t on a commercial flight where he would have had to climb over her to get to his seat.
“Buckle up,” Charlie said. “We are moving out.”
Margaret pulled on one side of the safety belt and searched for the other.
“I’ll get it.” He pushed his hand into the crevice, pulled out the other half, and snapped them together.
“Thank you.” She closed her eyes again as if keeping them open was an effort.
Letting his senses probe, he felt the pain she was trying to brave.
“You need to take one of the pills the doctor prescribed for you.” He pulled a water bottle from the side compartment and handed it to her. “I’ll get the pills.”
She shook her head. “Not yet. It’s not that bad.”
“Why wait when you can be comfortable? Do those pills have an adverse effect on you?”
“Yeah.” She smiled feebly. “I like them too much.”
“I don’t understand.”
She looked at him with disbelief in her eyes. “Don’t you know that opioids are addictive?”
Frowning, he pulled the container of pills out of the bag and examined it. “This is codeine, not morphine.”
“Codeine converts to morphine when it reaches the brain. It has the same effect.”
“I didn’t know that. But still, it’s not like there is enough in here to get addicted to.” He shook the container. “You need to take one now before the pain gets too bad.”
She let out a sigh. “Fine.”
When she was done, Margaret put the water bottle in the cup holder. “You work in security. Haven’t you ever been injured?”
“Plenty of times.”
“So you must know what those drugs can do.”
He didn’t because when he’d been injured, different methods had been used to numb pain, mainly shitloads of whiskey.
Instead, he had to lie. “They don’t affect me that way.”
“Then you are lucky. They are highly addictive.”
He wondered whether she’d been speaking from personal experience or just a general fear of getting addicted to painkillers.
“Have you ever been addicted?”
She nodded. “It was a long time ago, and it’s not something I like to talk about.”
“I bet. No one likes to admit a weakness. But if it’s a chemical reaction, then it’s not really your fault, right? I guess that some people are just more susceptible than others.”
He had no clue if that was true, but the moment Margaret dozed off, which was going to happen soon because of the pill, he was going to search the internet for answers.
“I like the floaty feeling I get.” She rubbed her chest. “The load lightens, and I can breathe freely. I wish there was a healthier way of achieving the same result.”
“It’s the pain relief.”
“It’s more than that.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “But right now, I’m grateful for it.”
13
Eleanor
Eleanor stood in front of the open fridge and grimaced. “That’s all the food you have?”
“I can make an omelet,” Greggory suggested. “Or we can go grab a sandwich at the café.”
“After a week in the damn retreat, I’m not in a mood to see people. I’ll take you up on your offer.” She pulled out a carton of eggs and handed it to him. “What else do you need?”
“Butter, an onion, and sausages.”
“Sounds yummy.” Eleanor handed him the three items and closed the fridge door.
He pulled a pan out of a drawer and put it on top of the stove. “I heard that it was a close call. I’m still waiting for you to tell me what happened.”
She arched a brow. “I told you most if it when I called you on the way to the airport.”
Greggory dropped a chunk of butter into the pan. “You only told me that Emmett locked you in a room, and that when Peter came looking for you, the guy used compulsion on him. You didn’t tell me what happened before he locked you up, and I have a feeling that I’m not going to like it.”
Eleanor crossed her arms over her chest. “So why do you ask?”
“Because I need to know.” He cracked several eggs into a bowl and started whisking them vigorously. “If the asshole hurt you, I want to take it out of his hide.”